Tim Southwell visits Qatar to experience its original sand courses as well as Education City GC and Doha GC, host of the European Tour’s Qatar Masters
Golf In Qatar: From Sandy Beginnings To World Class Championship Layouts
I’m standing on the first tee at Qatar’s oldest golf club. And when I say ‘tee’, I mean a concrete block on which there is a temporary mat. In front of me, the first fairway stretches out some 400 yards. And when I say ’fairway’ I mean concrete runway strewn with sand and rocks. To hit from the fairway you have to place a portable astroturf mat onto the concrete. At least you’re assured of a decent lie. When I arrive at the ‘green’ I will find a large platform covered in sand. It’s actually called a brown. Welcome to bona fide desert golf – Qatar style.
The Dukhan Golf Club consists of an 18-hole, 7,050 yards, 72 par, golf course, decent practice facilities, and a homely clubhouse. Created in the late 1940s and located inside the Dukhan Township, the course is a mixture of sand and oil. Originally a 9-holer, it was expanded to 18 in 1997.
But what’s it doing here in the first place? Simple, to give the oil worker ex-pats (a good hour’s drive from the bright lights of Doha) something to do after their shifts.
In the late 1940s, following the end of the Second World War, the oil boom occurred in what is now the Gulf Cooperation Council Countries (GCC) that drew oil industry specialists from all over the world. During this period golf was introduced to Qatar and the Arabian Gulf states, mostly as a means of recreation for the American and British expatriates working on the onshore facilities in the petroleum sector. Over the years golf became a very popular sport in Qatar, initially for small groups of dedicated players but in recent years as a part of the growing tourism industry.
As I look around the bleak, oil-stinking surroundings, I am reminded of golf’s sheer resilience. If golf can survive here, it can survive anywhere.
My adversary is my pal, Pogo. That and the golf course. Both first drives go…
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